Category Archives: Packing Tips

A “fishing” wallet? Yes, a fishing wallet. And it’s not a metaphor for an arsenal of techniques or secrets I carry on the stream or anything more interesting like that. I’m talking about an actual, mundane, physical wallet. For years, I’ve kept a dedicated wallet in my kit to carry certain fishing-related sundries I don’t…

Here’s a video of how I set up the Tenkara Guide Sling Pack from Zimmerbuilt to be my ideal carry system for tenkara fishing around Colorado. This pack was designed by the Tenkara Guides in Utah to be a tenkara-specific pack but could also be used for conventional fly fishing. How do you carry your tenkara…

Some tenkara rods come with a rod tube, and some don’t. Some anglers are hardcore tubers, some throw caution to the wind, and some are in between (like me). An included rod tube is a nice touch, but whenever someone laments the fact that a particular rod model doesn’t come with a tube, my response…

After a recent discussion with Karel from Tenkara on the Fly, I finally decided to sit down and do something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time: put together a tenkara kit to leave in my car for when those unexpected fishing opportunities present themselves. The conversation went something like this… We were…

Not too long ago, I wrote a post about my preference for wet wading when tenkara fishing. While it’s great in the summer, with fall fast approaching (even faster in the high country), it’s time to break out the waders for the colder temperatures ahead. Every angler who uses waders has their own system for…

A lot of people have asked me what I carry in my pack for UL fly fishing and backpacking trips so I thought I’d do a quick video about it. It’s called the Trico and I’d be curious to hear what others carry and see if it’s similar to my setup or what other gear…

As a semi-minimalist who likes to combine outdoor sports (yeah, you guessed it: backpacking and fly fishing), I’m always on the lookout for multi-purpose gear to enhance my outings without adding a lot of bulk and weight. Enter the RIBZ front pack. Wear it up the trail to balance out your load and make your…

I just got back from field testing a prototype of an ultralight leader wallet I’m designing. The idea is to create a super light, super compact wallet that will store 3-6 leaders and keep them from tangling. I’ve been looking for ultralight ultra-compact leader wallets for a while and found that like ultralight fly fishing…

This was a fly fishing pack I always wanted but didn’t exist. So I designed it myself. PLEASE NOTE: The Trico is no longer available as I’ve been unable to secure a new sewer to produce it. If you’ve got a lead on someone who will and help me put it back into production, please…

A while back, I wrote about a simple fly fishing setup for backpacking. As fly fishers, we have an intrinsic advantage when it comes fishing on overnight and multi-day backpacking trips. Unlike other styles of fishing, we aren’t condemned to carrying heavy, bulky tackle like spinning reels, weighted lures, etc. However, fly fishers also tend…

De-Fishing Soap from Jason Klass on Vimeo. Anyone who has fished on a backpacking trip and retired to your tent for the night has probably had a thought lurking in the back of their mind before drifting off to sleep: Am I going to end up as bear dinner? Luckily, this biodegradable soap takes the…

To me, one of the most interesting challenges of fly fishing on multi-day hikes is coming up with a system that allows you to carry all of the essentials without lugging a 15 lb. vest up the trail. Although my system is constantly evolving, here’s one that I found works well. Total weight (including rod): …

I’m one of those people who likes to fish my way up to my campsite. I’m usually not wading so leaving my pack on while I hit pocket water along the way is my typical MO. Yet, I want quick access to my flies, floatant, nippers, and tippet. Here’s a great little pouch you can…

A long time ago, multi-piece fly rods were considered junk. The technology to prevent multiple ferrules from compromising the action of the rod simply hadn’t been perfected yet. Fast-forward to the present and we are lucky enough to have a multitude of pack rods that cast just as well as 2-piece rods. Lucky for us,…